Brazil
The Brazil is, as its name implies, a map covering the present day Federative Republic of Brazil. The statement Ordem e Progresso is the country’s motto (also stated in Brazil’s national flag), which translates to “Order and Progress”. The map has 45 regions with 6 bonus zones. This provides a good sized map for 2-6 player games. The Brazil map is a simple, conservative and classic-style Conquer Club map. It was originally released in March 2006 during the website’s dawn and revamped in May 2009. Non-crossing borders break up the map into the separate bonus zones. The map relies primarily on region count advantage and zone bonuses to provide an edge in each game. Consequently, being a simple, old school map - what works on Classic generally works on the Brazil map. Spoils With the Brazil map being a rather simple, straight forward old school map - what works on Classic generally works on this map. There is nothing particularly special to this map concerning no spoils, flat rate and nuclear games. Here, the map-specific points under the “Two Player” and “Team Games” sub-sections may be helpful in addition to the general strategy guides on these topics. With respect to escalating games, the only bonus zone one should attempt to hold in these games is the South. As usual, it may be sensible to spread out across the map in order to increase one’s reach (i.e. to have a launching pad for assaults in different areas of the map) once the spoils sets increase in value. Several bottleneck regions exists: *Campo Grande is the only assault route between Mato Grosso and Central Axis / South. *Curitiba / São Paolo separates Central Axis and South. *Aripuanã / Vilhena separates Mato Grosso and North East. *Tocantins is the only assault route between Central North and Central Axis / Mato Grosso. *Alto Parnaiba / Piauí separates Central North and North East. By putting up troop blocks on these bottleneck regions, one may at least be able to make it more difficult for your opponents to reach and eliminate any other player. Also, using those regions as a starting-point, one has the opportunity to strike into the different parts of the map. Only one true dead end region exists, namely Boa Vista (blocked by Roraima). A number of other semi-dead end regions exist where two regions seals off a single region, but overall the Brazil map is a rather open map in this respect. This makes the trapping of an opponent (or, for that matter, the protection of a team mate) somewhat difficult when the spoils sets increase in value. However, the Brazil map’s many bottleneck regions allows for challenging escalating games as it takes careful planning and timing to eliminate one’s opponents. 1v1 In a 2 player game, each player starts with 15 regions (i.e. leaving 15 neutral regions). Irrespective of the spoils type, an early possession of the South bonus zone (+2 troop bonus) or an early region count advantage (one player holding 19 or more regions with the other player holding 11 or less regions) may be decisive for the outcome of the game. Preventing the opponent from getting a region count advantage and/or holding the South should be an overarching priority. Naturally, in a flat rate or escalating spoils game, the importance of the possession of the South and/or a region count advantage wears off after a few rounds. However, in a no spoils game, any one of these advantages tends to be the decisive factor in the vast majority of 2 player games. Under the right circumstances (taking into account the initial 15 neutral regions), it may be possible to conquer and attempt to hold Mato Grosso or North East (each with three entry points). Attempting any of these tactics is usually a gamble, but if successful the +3 troop bonus for Mato Grosso / North East generally ensures victory. The remaining bonus zones (Central Axis, Central North and North West) are rarely worth an effort in a 2 player game due to their size and likely number of neutral regions. Team games With respect to the basic set-up: In 4 player doubles games, each player starts with 11 regions, in triples games, each player starts with 7 regions and in quadruples games, each player starts with 5 regions. Considering the map size (45 regions), the best strategy in quadruples games is usually to target and attempt to eliminate one of the players in the opposing team (once done, one simply continues targeting the remaining opponents one by one). With respect to doubles or triples games, and irrespective of the spoils type, an early possession of the South bonus zone may be an important edge. It may also (at least in doubles games) be possible to seize and hold the Mato Grosso or the North East bonus zones (each with three entry points). Preferably, when defending any of these bonus zones, one should try to put up troop blocks in an adjacent region outside the bonus zone itself. For example: *The South can be defended with troop blocks on Campo Grande (Mato Grosso) and São Paolo (Central Axis). *Mato Grosso can be defended with troop blocks on Tocantins (Central North) and Vilhena (North West) in addition to Campo Grande. *North East can be defended with troop blocks on Alto Parnaiba (Central North), Juazeiro and Salvador (Central Axis). With such troop blocks in place, a team blocks the adjacent bonus zone, pushes forward the potential starting-points for assaults as well as creating a defensive depth if placing a second troop on the regions behind the troop blocks in questions. Without a good initial troop drop, it is difficult to seize and hold more than one bonus zone. However, this should be sufficient if one at the same time is able to ensure that the opposing team is unable to hold a different bonus zone. Having secured a bonus zone, a team has two basic strategies to choose from. The first choice would be to target one of the players in the opposing team (and once eliminated, continue targeting the remaining opponents one by one). The second choice would be to push the advantage by expanding out from the held bonus zone slowly grinding down the opposing team. Additional notes There is nothing particularly special to this map concerning assassin and terminator games or games with a fog of war or manual deployment setting, the general strategy guides on these topics may be helpful. As a general note on the Brazil map’s bonus zones, one can note the following: *South: +2 troop bonus, one entry point (i.e. 2 additional troop per tied down defense point). *North West: +5 troop bonus, three entry points (i.e. 1.66 additional troops per tied down defense point). *Central Axis: +8 troop bonus, five or six entry points (i.e. 1.6 or 1.33 additional troops per tied down defense point). *Central North: +5 troop bonus, four entry points (i.e. 1.25 additional troops per tied down defense point). *Mato Grosso: +3 troop bonus, three entry points (i.e. 1 additional troop per tied down defense point). *North East: +3 troop bonus, three entry points (i.e. 1 additional troop per tied down defense point). Especially in no spoils games, the ratio between bonus troops and the number of defense points one has to keep in order to hold a bonus zone is a factor to be taken into account when planning one’s strategy. However, and especially with respect to bonus zones consisting of a large number of regions, other factors - such as the negative impact on conquering neutral regions (or regions held by a team mate) as well as the risk that an opponent is able to secure a region count advantage - must be taken into account. Looking at the ratio between bonus troops and the number of defense points, one can conclude that the Brazil map is reasonably balanced bonus wise. The one exception is the South bonus zone with the high 2 bonus troops/defense point ratio.